The present invention relates to the display of Ethernet phones on a map of a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or other network.
The present invention relates to the process of discovery and display of devices on a network, that is a network of electronic devices comprising, for example, workstations, personal computers, servers, hubs, routers, bridges, switches, (hereinafter referred to as devices of the network), and links between these devices which may be in the form of physical cable or wireless links. The network may be a local area network (LAN), such as an Ethernet network, wide area network (WAN) or other types, including wireless networks, and may operate in accordance with any desired protocol.
Computers and other devices connected to a network may be managed or unmanaged devices. A managed device has processing capability which enables it to monitor data traffic sent from, received at, and passing through the ports of the device. Monitored data associated with the ports of the network device is stored in memory on the network device. For example, data relating to the origin of a data packet which is received at a port is stored along with the identify of the relevant port.
After such a network has been installed, it is desirable for the person appointed network manager to be able to understand the technical operation of the network. In known network management systems, relevant data is retrieved from the managed devices, compiled and displayed (“discovered”).
The topology of the network may be deduced by operation of the network manager's computer by the process of discovery in which each of the devices of the network are interrogated to thereby produce on a network manager's workstation details of the network and its operation, preferably in the form of a network map which may be displayed on a visual display unit showing the devices and links between the devices. At its simplest, and where the device is a “managed” device, this information is usually provided by interrogation using a known protocol, such as, but not limited to, the SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), of the so-called ‘agent’ of each device which stores the device's unique MAC address, the type of device and the MAC addresses embedded in the data passing into a particular port which thereby gives the MAC addresses of the origin of the data and hence the MAC address of the devices which are connected to the ports directly or indirectly.
It has recently been proposed to include so called Ethernet telephones in networks (particularly LANs), in addition to the usual workstations, routers and switches. These Ethernet telephones (which may be controlled by a telephone controller, usually a network call processor (NCP)) allow one to use the existing wiring or other network medium to implement a telephone system. This is particularly useful in a business environment where a single set of cables or other medium may be provided to connect both the computer network and the telephone network.
Discussions with users of such systems which include Ethernet phones have indicated that there is a considerable problem in trying to diagnose problems, particularly with telephones, and it has not hitherto been possible to easily identify how the telephones are connected into the system and to easily identify them. Because they are unmanaged devices, the telephones will normally appear as generic devices. Prior art systems have provided, effectively, a telephone directory for users of the system but have not provided details of the linking of the Ethernet phones into the network.
It is clearly desirable that the network manager of the computer network should be able to similarly view the availability and placement (ie the topology) of phones on the same network.